The hidden costs of biofuels

Concerns that the health and environmental impacts of biofuels haven't been properly examined have arisen following a recent Australian government report and a pledge to promote their use.

The Report of the Biofuels Taskforce to the Prime Minister released last week found that the government's own targets on producing biofuels, namely ethanol and biodiesel, aren't being met.

And the Australian government has promised to do more to reach its target of producing 350 megalitres of biofuels a year by 2010.

But not everyone agrees that biofuels are the hoped-for magic bullet as an alternative to fossil fuels.

One of them, environmental engineer and pollution expert Dr Robert Niven of the University of New South Wales in Sydney, says his research shows ethanol may increase groundwater contamination and photochemical smog.

"It's sort of entered the mythology," he says of the claimed benefits of ethanol, admitting his findings about air pollution, published in Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews this year, came as a surprise.

The ethanol debate

Ethanol, which is distilled from sugar or grains, can be used on its own or added to petrol to increase combustion efficiency and cut back emissions.

Niven says the report glosses over the environmental consequences of ethanol.

He says ethanol can increase corrosion of underground petrol storage tanks, leading to increased leakage.

And once a leak has occurred the ethanol prevents biodegradation of the petroleum because the microbes that normally attack the petrol go for the ethanol instead.

"These effects work against the ability of the natural environment to restore itself," he says.

Together these produce photochemical smog, or ground level ozone, the cause of the "brown haze" that sometimes shrouds Australia's most populous city Sydney.

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions?

CSIRO Low Emissions Transport leader Dr David Lamb says ethanol may help society "escape from the tyranny of oil", but its benefits in terms of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, in particular carbon dioxide (CO2), are small in the scheme of things.

"We measure the CO2 used in fertilising the crop, plus transportation, plus machinery, plus when you burn it in the car," says.

"We add that up and offset it against the CO2 absorbed by the sugar cane when it's growing and the answer is it's a little bit favourable."

And while he says he hasn't seen anything to suggest ethanol increases particulates in exhaust more tests are needed.

He says every litre of fossil fuel burnt puts 2.3 kilograms of CO2 into the atmosphere, which translates to an average of 4.3 tonnes of CO2 for every car in the world, every year.

Some research suggests ethanol may contribute to photochemical smog (Image: Reuters/Carlo Cortes)

The government's target for biofuel production, which adds up to 0.1% of the fuel used in transportation in Australia each year, is a mere drop in the ocean and would make a negligible difference in terms of health or environment, he says.

"If you're getting a marginal improvement in one tenth of one per cent of the oil ... you'd certainly not be able to measure it in terms of population health," he says.

"And let's not kid ourselves that this is going to solve the global warming problem."

Biodiesel

Biodiesel, a green replacement for diesel, is produced by converting the triglycerides in products like tallow and cooking oils into highly oxygenated compounds.

Dr Len Humphreys is the chief executive officer of the Australian Biodiesel Group, which has the country's largest biodiesel plant. The plant produces biodiesel from animal fat from abattoirs and used cooking oil from local food outlets.

Located on the Central Coast in New South Wales, it can producing 44 million litres of biodiesel a year, Humphreys says, and the company is building a second, bigger plant, in Queensland.

Humphreys says biodiesel is clean-burning, gentle on engines and releases less polyaromatic hydrocarbons, such as benzene, than diesel.

Niven agrees, saying biodiesel is "less of a problem" than ethanol.

Humphreys also says the report is inclusive about the health implications of biofuels. But he says it's "commonsense" that reducing particulate emissions will entail health benefits.

Market protectionism?

Lamb says the major stumbling blocks to the introduction of ethanol are the big oil companies, who want to protect their markets.

But the corporate affairs manager of Caltex, Richard Beattie, says the company is already Australia's biggest biofuels marketer and is planning to expand biofuels production to help the government achieve its goals.

He says it's consumers, not oil companies, who need to be convinced that ethanol won't wreck their cars.

"The only significant problem with ethanol is consumer confidence in the product," he says.

According to the report, these concerns are unfounded, as long as you've got a new car and don't put in too much ethanol.

"The taskforce concludes that almost all post-1986 vehicles can operate satisfactorily on E10 [10% ethanol]," it says.

The future of biofuels will be on the agenda this week at a meeting between the government and Australian oil company heads.